angheria

Forms

angheria f (plural angherie)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin angaria (“obligation to provide means of transport”), a learned word,^{[2][3][4][5][1]} in the Florentine form of angaria, with unstressed /a/ turned to /e/ before /r/ as in comperare and margherita.^[2][6][7] Devoto instead took the older form as a noun from angariare, given the ending of soperchieria and similar nouns.^[8]

The Latin word appears in the 4th century in the jurist Charisius and is frequent in the Medieval Latin documents of the Lombards, Visigoths and Carolingians.^[9] It is taken from Ancient Greek ἀγγαρεία (angareía, “courier service”), derived from ἄγγαρος (ángaros), the mounted courier of the Persian king, who had the right to requisition transport and impose levies.^{[2][3][10][1]} The Greek word came to mean forced labour for a public service in general, and it lives on in the Balkan languages.^[9]

DELI calls the courier's title very probably of Eastern origin.^[2] Nocentini derives it from a Greek noun for the courier service, from Old Persian *angarā- (“message”), which is of Aramaic origin;^[3] Brust disputes the Aramaic source.^[3] Wiktionary traces the Aramaic word to Akkadian egirtu (“inscribed tablet; contract”).^[1]

Inherited forms survive in Romanian angara, Sicilian angara, Aragonese anguera (“payment for the use of a draught animal”) and Old Galician-Portuguese angueira; elsewhere the word is learned, as in Sardinian angarìa (“violence, vexation”).^[9][11][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Messinese of Accurso di Cremona (1321–1337), with the sense “forced service, tribute”, extended to “vexation”.^[12] DELI's first Italian record of angaria “oppression” is in Zanobi da Strata, who died in 1364, and the form angheria appears in Girolamo Savonarola, who died in 1498.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word fell from an obligation to supply transport to the state to any act of oppression, a change Migliorini discussed.^[2] Old Italian had the phrase in angheria “under compulsion, unwillingly”: Domenico Cavalca, before 1342, speaks of carrying Christ's cross in angheria.^[12][10] The plural angherie “ill-treatment” is recorded from 1587 and the singular in this sense from 1614.^[10] Savonarola writes of a king who imponeva tante angherie al popolo d'Israel (“laid so many impositions on the people of Israel”).^[13]

The old legal sense lasted in Sicily, where the constitution of 1812 used it for the unpaid service owed to a lord.^[10] In international law diritto d'angheria (1874) is the right of a state at war to requisition the vessels and vehicles of foreign subjects within its territory.^[10][4] Manzoni uses it for the outrages of a mob, and in Corsica the plural means “small debts, trifles”.^[13][10]

Timeline

• 888 – Late Latin angaria appears in a diploma of Berengar.^[4]
• 1321–1337 – Accurso di Cremona has the first Italian record.^[12]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses in angheria “unwillingly”.^[10]
• Before 1364 – Zanobi da Strata uses angaria for “oppression”.^[2]
• Before 1498 – Savonarola uses the form angheria.^[2][14]
• 1587 – The plural angherie “ill-treatment” is recorded.^[10]
• 1874 – Diritto d'angheria “right of requisition” is recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. An act of oppression or abuse of power; a humiliating imposition: sopportare in silenzio ogni angheria.^{[14][6][7][5][15][16][1]}
2. (history) A forced service or levy owed to a ruler, the same as angaria.^{[14][7][16][12]}
3. (by extension) An excessive tax.^[5][16]

Related words

• angaria
• angariare

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 202
5. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 33
9. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 2, 1168
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
14. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli